An Overlord's Holiday
by Monkeybandit2
Summary: ... not that he would call it that per se given it was neither intended nor welcomed at the very least. All he can do now is pick himself up and try to set right what was set wrong: he had to find his way back to Nazarick.
1. Prologue

**I think it's been long since established I own neither One Piece nor Overlord... leave me to my misery. (Sniffles.)**

**Also...**

**As is a(n unfortunately) growing trend for me... an idea in my head that got stuck there and won't leave. I also thought it as a bit of an interesting challenge for myself... As with Self Proclaimed Bandits of the Sea, how do you make a story with an overpowered character interesting when there is no necessary plotting or intrigue induced by caution involved? I certainly hope I at least make badass scenes here at least. :P**

**Just a fair bit of warning: this story will not be regularly updated. I'm sorry for this inconvenience. Also... (**_**Bonestrussle begins to play**_**) FIRST ONE TO COME UP WITH THE IDEA Of MOMONGA BEING THE PROTAGANIST IN ONE PIECE APPARENTLY! IN YOUR FACES! (**_**CACKLES MADLY IN VICTORY!)**_

**I hope you enjoy the chapter however.**

An Overlord's Holiday...

Unknown island

He was tempted to. He was really, really tempted to. But no. As overwhelming as the urge was, if the one responsible, assuming there was one, for his current predicament had some way of monitoring him he would most certainly _not_ give him or her the satisfaction of seeing the Ainz Ool Goan, Ruler of Nazarick, the Sorcerer King, freaking out upon finding himself alone on an island in the middle of nowhere.

... _he was so tempted to though!_

"_Ugh... as if once wasn't bad enough,_" Ainz mentally groaned to himself as he palmed his skeletal face before drawing it down to stare at the brilliantly lit ocean before him. If he glanced to either his left or right he would perfectly see the palm trees whose leaves were flirting with the edge of his peripheral vision. It was a lovely view though, that much he could admit without either condescension or a sense of snark to help relieve the weight he felt upon him. "_Not to say I didn't appreciate having the backing of Nazarick with so many familiar faces at my side, but it doesn't make it any less jarring when crap like this happens._"

"_Alright, calm down you big baby,_" Momonga thought to himself in reprimand. "_Let's just review how I got here... The Floor Guardians and I were in an emergency meeting within my throne room regarding a mysterious switch that had been randomly appearing within Nazarick. After getting up from my throne to ensure I had their full and undivided attention as I announced our countermeasures upon finding it, I sat back down... onto what briefly felt like a switch._" Ainz groaned to himself as he agAinzt covered his face with his skeletal hand. "_And now I'm here... wherever here is..._" Silently he looked up to the peaceful scene before him once again. "_Perhaps I'm overreacting. If I set aside the issue potential intruder skulking within Nazarick, is it fair to say I was teleported to another world? For all I know I've been displaced into a section of the world I found myself in after my initial jump. Probably one beyond any of their maps... or Nazarick's for that matter. Yet if that were true, shouldn't the communication skill work however despite my failed attempts? Then again, for all I know there is indeed a range limit that I nor anyone else knew about. It wasn't like we typically crossed worlds in YGGDRASIL that often, nor had that much reason to have communications between two worlds if it could be helped. At the very least I can't immediately recall anything off the top of my head about such issues._"

Movement other than the palm leaves drew his attention to the water where what looked to be a grandly sized ship was passing by a fair distance from what he can only assume to be the island he was on; he wasn't like he devoted much time toward exploration before now. Maybe there was a town here that was waiting to be discovered? Perhaps. Either way it would be best if he donned a disguise. Considering the ship and the possibility of lookouts that may or may not saw him, he quickly turned around before reaching out for his personal storage space to retrieve the Mask of Greed. He also made sure to soon have the conjured image of mailed hands protruding out of his robes after he closed them up. Satisfied with his appearance he briefly considered whether or not to simply fly to the ship or to quickly scout out the island he was on, assuming of course it was indeed an island. In the end however he opted to simply draw their attention to himself with simple waving of the arms.

Though it seemed to take them awhile, after many a moment it seemed that someone had spotted him and in turn they began to lower a landing craft with a pair of crewman aboard.

XVX

Ballroom, Cruise ship Luxia, minutes before

"Captain!"

"Hm? What is it?"

As much as he didn't want to the captain veered his attention from one of the many guests aboard the ship to the crewman who ran up to him and snapped off a crisp salute. Alas, hobnobbing was all well and good but for all he knew this man, however unlikely, could very well be reporting that the rudder's chain was in sudden need of repairs, they were about the hit a reef because _someone_ wasn't paying attention to their course or worse yet a suspicious vessel had been spotted. It wouldn't do if the clientele felt the least bit threatened or God forbid annoyed by something, never mind died under his watch if he could prevent it. He and the company that employed him would never see another affluent passenger again should the worse come to pass.

"Sir, we seem to have spotted what appears to be a man stranded upon an uninhabited island. Shall we bring him aboard?"

The captain snorted. "Are you _sure_ it's uninhabited?"

"Yes sir!" the sailor announced. "Not only is the navigator certain that there are no towns or villages nearby on record but the crow's nest reports there is no sign of civilization anywhere on the island itself!"

"Hrmf..."

He couldn't help but doubt it. While far-fetched, it wasn't _completely_ unheard of for someone to pose as a shipwreck survivor with the hopes of either enjoying at least the fringe luxuries afforded to the cruise ship's passengers or, worse yet, act as a spy for pirates or thieves. Then again it's entirely possible this situation, as he understood it at least, was what it appeared to be: a man lost at sea. It's not impossible his supposed stranded man had indeed suffered a shipwreck due to rogue weather or some other fault like ramming into a reef by accident. Heck, there was even a whirlpool nearby that he miraculously escaped from! That and there _were_ pirates about here and there. Some of them even became more active since Don Krieg left for the Grand Line, thus increasing the likelihood of someone being stranded on an island either because they were robbed and left to die or likewise was forced to abandon ship to the relative safety of land.

"Inform the security detail first and send a boat to rescue him," the captain carefully stated so as to not sigh in front of his ship's guests.

"Aye sir!"

XVX

Luxia's deck, the present...

"I must thank you again. I wasn't sure for how much longer I would've been there had you not arrived."

"It's not a problem sir," a crewman laughed as he rubbed the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "I mean it would be kind of cruel to ignore someone stranded at sea without due cause at least," the man laughed awkwardly... especially upon realizing what he said to a complete stranger who, for all intents and purposes, was indeed stranded at sea... whether or not it was with due cause was something he'd rather not dwell on for both his sanity and his good faith.

"Hm, yes, it would. But I am thankful all the same," Ainz said...

"_... says the guy who might've done such a thing in their position,_" he sighed solely to himself. "_But it's no use thinking like that. The fact of the matter is that they went out of their way to aid me. That is all that matters._"

"So, eh, tell me... if you don't mind me asking that is... how did you end up on that island to begin with?"

Ainz briefly paused at that as he pondered his response as he was freshly reminded of his circumstances despite its newness to him. "_I guess I should be as vague as possible. Though they don't exactly appear to be a part of any of the kingdoms and empires I'm aware of, it's entirely possible I'm actually at the edge of the known world. That or they at least have some connections to allow word of mouth to travel back about my sudden appearance here if I didn't jump worlds._"

"It's embarrassingly, really," Ainz half admitted. "It seems that an experiment I was conducting went awry."

The man blinked owlishly at him. "What sort of experiment stands someone on a random island in the East Blue?"

Between his bony face the mask which hidden it away, and whatever force which suppressed a great deal of his emotions Ainz was very much grateful he lacked any abrupt tell of any sort. He was also grateful that it was thanks to this virtually missing ability to freak out that he gained a fair amount of experience to play along with what is assumed to be common knowledge.

"Simple: I was testing teleportation magic imbued upon certain objects." From a certain point of view that was true... if someone was willing to twist the actual truth by a horrifically ludicrous extent just to appear to be in control when they certainly weren't by a long shot. But this sailor didn't need to know that... especially considering his face was scrunched up in incredulity.

"I'm sorry, magic? As in, uh, waving your fingers and making stuff happen out of thin air magic?"

If anyone was able to see it and paid particularly close attention they would've seen the red ghost lights that made up his eyes briefly dim out of view in befuddlement. "_... oooookay..._"

"Well, that's a crude way of putting it but I suppose that description is as apt as any."

"_Particularly amongst the young mage trainees I managed observed in the Baharuth Empire... By his reaction though am I to assume then that magic isn't as widely known throughout the world as I previously thought? It's not impossible I suppose. I mean if I looked at it from his perspective, if I hadn't been transported from Yggdrasil to the New World I would be wary at best too."_

"Ah, right. Whatever you say, sir. Uh, allow me to escort you to a spare cabin you can use till we make port."

"I am thankful. Please, lead the—"

"PIRATES!" a crewman abruptly bellowed from the crow's nest.

_KraK—sshhhhh—__**KABOOM!**_

Everyone jumped. Even Ainz jolted in surprise even if it didn't looked like it thanks to all of his robes. Even so he glanced over to the towering columns of water that surrounded both sides of the very ship he was on. Before long more spires of water sprouted up as even more cannonballs came screaming toward the ship, only a few of which actually striking it.

Amidst this chaos of splintering wood and panicking men diving for the relative safety of the ship's depths however Ainz, rather than even hesitate to join them, simply sauntered to the edge of the ship most relevant to the approaching pirate ship.

"_Cannons? Here? Then again they __**were**__ more prominent in nautical areas back in YGGDRASIL. Now that I think about it, technologically speaking the coastal areas were relatively more advance in comparison to everything else barring a few exceptions. Could the principle be the same here as well?_"

With a experimental hum to himself Ainz raised a finger and gathered enough energy to let loose a bolt at an incoming cannonball. Much to his expectations and satisfaction the cannonball was annihilated long before it could either hit the ship or even slam into the water like so many of its contemporaries. Sadly he couldn't test out how he would managed should one of them actually hit him; they were weren't coming close enough for him to even bother intercepting. He didn't even bother himself to even muster an excuse seeing as the outright gaudy pirate ship approached with an almost disturbing swiftness...

"_... it looks like something a ten year old girl would've made..._" While it would be almost hypocritical to fault someone for their sense of style and preferences, there was a limit... and he had personally both seen and raided the Kitty Kingdom back in the day which was saying _ a lot_. Honestly... kudos for being heteromorphics like his guild but _there are only so many cat motifs one can handle_. Actually now that he was unfortunately thinking about it the Love Boat of a pirate ship isn't as nauseating as Kitty Kingdom's base. He wasn't sure if he should be comforted by that.

At any rate the pirate ship had not only stopped firing but came to a stop, or perhaps rather surprisingly control its speed to match that of the ship he was on, at the side of the vessel Ainz had boarded. Even from his currently limited view which he actively sought to correct with a barely brisk pace he saw grappling lines being shot out from the pink heart laden ship and ensnaring themselves along the railing. Not even a moment later after the barking of what he presumed to be the captain a horde of pirates either skillfully ran up these mooring lines or else made use of the loose lines from their rigging to board the liner. That simply wouldn't do considering these people were attacking those who deigned to help him as a courtesy. As such the Master of Nazarick was rather quick to stand between the raiders and the quickest point of access to the ship proper. Seeing as he had time to spare he reached into his personal inventory and retrieved the walking stick he made use of the last time he went without the staff of Ainz Ool Goan. Upon seeing he had a few seconds to spare he decided to give his staff a quick inspec—oh! How careless of him. There was still a little bit of blood from that ogre he killed. He couldn't help but feel both embarrassed and rather silly for missing that the first time he cleaned this.

"DIE!"

_**THWACK!**_

Sadly that small piece of maintenance would have to wait. Blood or no he would make do with his prop to the best of his ability. Who knows, it might even help with the 'negotiations' considering it was now mingled with the blood of another whom flopped onto the deck and crashed into the railing, never to rise again. Regardless of the 'decorations' the undisputed display of power and brutality was enough to halt the advance of the current group. Those that hadn't witnessed the death of their comrade however by virtue of just arriving were forced to stop in confusion.

_CRASH!_

Barring a severely large and overweight woman armed with an iron club of course. The cabin-like structure she landed on stood no chance nor was even spared a second glance as she stomped out of it, her head swiveling to and fro and her lips peeled back in a sneer at seeing the idling pirates around her.

"What's the matter with all of you?!" she snapped at them, easily drawing their attention to her. "He's just one man!"

"B-but he just killed Bruno with one hit! From a cane no less!"

The evident leader scowled as she looked to Ainz who for all intents and purposes was simply leaning on his cane in front of him as he observed him. Had he an eyebrow it would've been raised in curiosity. She then glanced over to the corpse. With a huff of gruff acknowledgement she lifted her club from its temporary resting place—

_**CLONG!**_

—and practically beheaded a pirate who had the misfortune of being within the weapon's reach. What was left of his head splattered along the deck, either still attached to its body like tenderized jerky or in bits and pieces, namely teeth and what looked to be bits of bone from Ainz's vantage point.

"So can I," she roughly stated as both a threat and a fact. "Now would you rather deal with him, or would you like me to practice my swings on your skulls?"

"... REAAAAARGH!"

Fear, an excellent motivator across all spectrums... sadly it dashed whatever interest he had in negotiating with these pirates for his own edification; torturing ruffians made for less awkward and careful planning and directing than with someone he had no iota of a reason to at act against with. Though perhaps he could save the leader for last. Yes. That should do rather nicely for his purposes.

With his mind made up Ainz calmly lifted one gauntlet hand and pointed a finger to the wave of human bodies. A simple AoE spell should do. Nothing too crazy of course. He never had much need for concern about his surroundings before now beyond mundane curiosity after dealing with that fiasco that befallen Shalltear.

"Death's March."

From its focal point a wave of bobbing and weaving ribbon-like bolts of darkness headed by demonic hungering mouths lashed out. As it had with the many enemies that came before him these poor souls didn't stand even a shadow of a chance once struck. Almost as one the entire mob fell onto the deck to never stir again, leaving only the gigantic woman to gawk at the entire scene, her spiked iron club nearly threatening to slip from her slack grip. Correction actually, it seemed he missed one other pirate, albeit without intent. The poor boy looked ready to wet himself from his spot behind the oversized pirate. That certainly makes things more convenient should he accidently take things too far with his intended victim too soon.

"De-de-de-devil... fruit?" the woman gasped.

Devil Fruit? And here he thought he would be retrieving relevant geographical and political information.

"Magic actually," Ainz spoke up at last. "I'm afraid I have no knowledge of these devil fruits you speak of."

"Bullshit!" the pirate roared, her fire restored and her club now pointed as threateningly as possible at him. "As if some trick of the eyes is enough to kill my men! I'll teach you to screw with me!"

With a bellow she charged at him much like her men did not even a minute before. Unlike before he didn't bother to so much as raise his hand in his defense once again, instead he let it rest atop of the cane as he leisurely waited for her to come within grabbing distance under her own volition. Soon enough she was upon him and hammering away at him as if she could either knock his head off or else hammer him into the deck. She might've succeeded with the later with time if she solely focused on that. But sadly for her stronger had tried and stronger had failed to so much as scratch him. It was a fact that she seemed to ignore up till her fifteenth blow which struck his head and shoulder. By her thirtieth strike she was staggering back by half a step and wheezing rather fiercely both in a dire need for air as well as in shock as she was gradually forced to realize that Ainz hadn't so much as twitched since her assault began.

"Wh-what a-a-are you?" she gasped as she took another half step. The act alone nearly threatened to topple her due to having spent the majority of her efforts in futile pursuit of causing him harm. She however found the strength to take a third and greater step when Ainz humored her with a dark chuckle.

"Who am I? I almost find that insulting. But then again I suppose it does go to show that I have a great deal more work to do in order to spread my name to every corner of the globe. As such allow me to enlighten you. I am the Sorcerer King of the Sorcerer Kingdom." She stagger back another step as he made a pronounced one of his own. "I am the lord of Life and Death." _Step-__**Step**_. "_I_ am the master of the _Great Tomb of Nazarick_."

"St-stay away from meHEE—!"

She was denied any further retreat when the living skeleton lunged forth, grasped her by the collar of her shirt and effortlessly lifted her up. When she took a wild swing of her club at his head once more Ainz finally deigned to acknowledge it by countering it with a blow from his cane. She could only gap in horror as the simple nobles' stick smashed through it and sundered it beyond repair.

"_I_," Ainz announced as if he hadn't been interrupted in the slightest by the squirming woman in his grasp, "_Am. Ainz. Ool. Goan._"

"And I have some need of your services, such as they are. Would to be so kind as to indulge me?"

**A/N: I'll be honest, when I wrote this chapter I was kind of going to kill Luffy off as something of plot justification as well as a sick joke on my part much like I did with **_**Self Proclaimed Bandits**_**. Then another idea hit me... do I have to? Do I have to stick Ainz into Luffy's spot as opposed to going with an OC (by relativity) crew?**

**I also had another thought, why not let you, the readers decide. Let Ainz essentially take over the Straw Hat Pirates (effectively wiping them out of existence seeing as Luffy wouldn't start them), or go about his own merry way in an attempt to get back home?**

**Polls will be ending on December 11, 2019.**

**At any rate I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**Edit (11/13/2019): While I'm not objecting to the act of reviews to state your opinions and the like, I'm not counting reviews as votes. The link to the poll should be on my profile page.**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! **


	2. Chapter 1

**I think it's been long since established I own neither One Piece nor Overlord... leave me to my misery. (Sniffles.)**

**Well, some of you may not like it but Luffy's death has been ordained (in this fanfic... just like Jason Todd (poor guy...)!). For better or worse however I could not think of a proper/dignified way to send him off. Having him fighting Ainz directly would not only have predictable results but frankly it seemed rather mean to me. Dying in another adventure before this part? Possible, but again I find it in poor taste (says the guy who killed him off for twisted laughs in another fanfic...) considering the dangers he would have to face would be nothing less than considerable considering canon Luffy's luck, resiliency and versatility in a fight. As such the closest to a 'dignified' death I can think of for him is either capsizing and drowning before Ainz' arrival or else the barrel he tried to hide in to survive a whirlpool had a hole that he failed to notice. Both horrible fates in of themselves but both possible dangers of the sea, doubly so for a devil fruit user. At any rate however, beyond this note I would otherwise not mention in any detail of Luffy's demise.**

**For what it's worth I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

An Overlord's Holiday...

Chapter One

Shells Town, East Blue

Interesting seemed to be the word of the week. The Blues. Devil Fruits. The World Government. The Grand Line. But no Re-Estize Kingdom, nor the newfound Sorcerer Kingdom for that matter. If they were anywhere then they were off the maps which the luxury liner housed, which the crew admitted weren't very detailed compared to others; it would ensure they would stay on their intended course or, barring that, at least attempt to find their way back. While the sailors seemed to think it unlikely, comparing some of their older maps that hadn't been discarded for more recent ones had indeed proven that some islands were not only newly discovered but added to the rough atlas that was the ship's collection. So there was _some_ hope that he was indeed simply displaced from Nazarick. He wasn't going to hold his figurative breath however.

Now how was he to deal with this...?

Obviously he would have to commission a ship and a crew considering he lacked any knowledge and skills related to sea faring. As for money, he would definitely need to peruse any at all shops he encountered to at least get a rough idea as to what to expect in regards to costs, perhaps even hire himself out, but hopefully this five million beri bounty, once it was turned in, should suffice for now. At the very least it would help him rent a temporary accommodation to better coordinate his efforts as well as blend in with the local populace of the town he was finally dropped off at; for all their gratitude the crew of the Luxia were rather adherent to their company's policy in regards to stranded sea farers they pick up along the way. Now that he thought about it, perhaps he should consider a temporary career in bounty hunting? If the price put upon the head of his current prisoner was any indication then it would certainly both be lucrative as well as a more viable source of income for when he set out to sea. It wasn't that dissimilar in questing either.

Regardless, one step at a time.

Atop the large hill that dominated much of the island sat a series of wide green towers painted teal marked further with deep sea green wave-like sigils, as well as a decoration of a seagull with the word MARNE printed in bold in a relatively clear path amongst its teal backdrop. It was fairly obvious to all that it was a base for the Marines, the overall naval military of the World Government. It was more of an outpost really from what he understood; a depot for rations, ammo and supplies as well as to provide a quick response to dangers within its immediate vicinity; a deterrent at best. It was also the only place the captain of the Luxia was willing to detour to where he could deposit his catatonic prisoner for the bounty on her head. That aside however it was the first place he marched his pale prisoner.

As they made their way up the street in a direct course for the base Momonga couldn't help but idly survey the architecture, the people and what sense of culture he could witness. Sadly for him there was barely anything worth especially noting. The structures that consisted of both homes and shops lack anything more distinctive than a sign to differentiate the businesses from the homes, never mind each other. There were a few differently colored rooftops here and there but again it was barely worth more than a curious glance that otherwise noted the more sturdy looking structures when compared to the cities and villages he had visited thus far. There were no markets per se nor fair grounds, but it was entirely possible that they were simply out of view, as such he would have to hold his opinion of their culture at bay for now. As for the people...

Try as they might with wan smiles and generally busy body nature from what he observed there was a vibe to the people. One he could distinctly remember during his days at the office before all of this happened...

"_It's as if they have a rotten executive on the prowl..."_

Heads were low and eyes were shifting, particularly in the direction of the marine base as if looking out to see someone of importance was stalking toward them. No one strayed too far from the relative safety and cover the buildings provided. Their overall energy was subdued, though whether to avoid notice, out of lethargy brought on by their current atmosphere or perhaps to conserve their strength to flee the Lord of Nazarick wasn't able to tell. Even so it reminded him of the more tumultuous days at the office where heads, regardless of allegiance or association, rolled... sometimes literally, though thankfully it was often the executives' head rather than the office workers; middling though he was, it was one of the handful of reasons why he was glad he never climbed up as high on the ladder as he had originally hoped a lifetime ago. It was a tad disconcerting but alas he didn't have much of a choice but to stick his head in the proverbial lion's mouth at any rate. With any luck, despite knowing his own, there wouldn't be much of a scene that would drag him into the thick of things.

As such he made it his mission to ensure his prisoner kept pace with him with as much dignity as possible. Thankfully it was an easy task: since their initial encounter "Lady Pirate" Alvida was of no mind to resist his demands and whims; she was the model terrified prisoner that the crew of the Luxia happily had stowed away in their brig without incident.

XVX

East Gate, Marine Base

While Ainz could certainly testify that he had no military experience he'd like to think that some of his experiences back of YGGDRASIL and even in the New World, both as an adventurer and a guild master, could translate into this... potential... 'New World,' for lack of a better description... For example, if one finds another's base, be it an NPCs or a rival guild's base, never mind their living counterparts, there would at least be some sort of rudimentary guard of some sort to at least simulate common sense at the front door. But no. The simple iron gate with the word MARINE printed in blue was left without some sort of attendant or even a courteous note to at least mention the guards were on lunch, unlikely and unrealistic though it was in regards to the act of leaving a note. Then again it's entirely possible there was a situation elsewhere that demanded the garrison's attention, or the guards were distracted enough to leave their posts to carry out other duties. Or perhaps Shells Town was simply that relaxing of an environment, for them at least, that any strict adherence to Marine policy was reserved for those times when upper management came to visit?

He sadly had no way to tell at the moment. More unfortunate however was that the gate itself was locked. As tempted as he was to peruse his inventory of items and spells for a lock pick of some kind, it would no doubt lead to some... awkward questions should he simply invite himself inside the base.

"_Then again, is this the only entry to the base?"_

Some guilds like to fancy themselves as clever by having multiple routes in and out of their bases. While it certainly helped with invasions by other guilds by enabling defending players the ability to outflank their attackers and subsequently taking advantage of their attacker's open defenses it only worked so long as these methods remained hidden as well as other factors such as the opposing force lacking the numbers to adequately plug or exploit these holes; it was a lesson his old guild learned the hard way despite their teleport system and tactics before their desperate gamble with Victim's creation. At any rate it certainly didn't hurt to at least look at the very least. It wasn't as if there was a doorbell he could utilize here anyway.

Having decided he and his prisoner turned to the first direction his whims had dictated just in time to see a curious sight: a young girl no older than Nemu, the sister of Enri of Carne Village, charging the wall with a ladder... Well, perhaps not charge. More like the awkward union of attempting to sneak to the wall with a ladder with as much haste as possible. It was a little strange, but adorable nevertheless.

Regardless, even after undoubtedly seeing both the Sorcerer King and his prisoner it seemed their presence wasn't what she was on guard for. As such she was clearly content with carrying out what she set to do by placing the ladder against the wall and, after securing a napkin bundle he had initially failed to observe to her person, began to climb to the top. She paused only long enough to carefully peek over the edge before a smile flashed across her face as she hauled herself over the wall and subsequently disappearing.

Being struck curious by this strange scene the Lord of Nazarick drew closer to the ladder, and as he did so he began to hear an unintelligible conversation rise up from over the wall. Even so he couldn't help but give himself pause as for the first time he realized he never actually weighed himself before in his more preferred garb. Could he use the ladder to peek over the wall without breaking it? He considered the mild gamble but in the end thought better of it: a child they might overlook but he would certainly be suspected as some sort of instigator if he was caught using the ladder by the soldiers station here. If nothing else then it would simply be rude to use such a semi-personal item without permission. As such he decided to risk it with a little bit of flight to peer over the wall a safe distance away from the ladder; Alvida, already pale from her experiences with the lich, turned a shade whiter as she was reminded that this 'man' was far from normal, and sadly far stronger than she had tragically assumed.

He poked his head out just in time to see the little girl speaking to someone tied to a cross in the dirt floor courtyard. Off to the side of said courtyard was a barred gate which was sliding open to allow two men, two in white sleeveless uniforms accompanied by white baseball caps, and a blonde haired teenager in a purple business suit. "Now now, nobody likes a bully!" he laughed. Though the finer details were dulled by the distance between Ainz and the trio, the smug smile was hard to miss. The same could be said from his years of familiarity in such a position that the apparent guards for this man would rather be elsewhere, doing just about anything else rather than be in his presence.

"Roronoa Zoro, you seem to be handling this well. Don't you agree?"

The prisoner merely glared at him from the pole he was tied to. The child, to her credit, seemed of the same disposition as the guards that accompanied the young man. Was he perhaps some sort of executive perhaps? Clearly he was of some importance at least to be... tolerated.

"Lookie! Some tasty rice balls!" Whilst staring at the young man as he swiped at the aforementioned rice balls that sat in the girl's hands, for a brief moment of whimsical nostalgia Momonga couldn't help but briefly ponder how long it had been since he himself ate one. It was years ago at least, not counting the incident with being transported to a new world as his character. It sadly cost him a month's paycheck... But it was _soooo_ good...

"That's not for you!" the girl cried. Sadly for her she was ignored by the food thief who happily munched on the stolen ball, his guards looking more sour for it.

"BYAAAH! TOO SWEET!"

For a brief moment the Lord of Nazarick wondered why such a thing would be a problem. Then again he only had one rice ball to date.

"They're Packed With Sugar!" the man child barked as he rounded on the girl, a fist held up in frustration. "You're suppose to use salt you idiot! Salt!"

Ainz would definitely make a note of that for future reference should he go out of his way to see if he could indeed consume food and, ideally, taste it; he wasn't quite sure if it was due to his undead nature if the mana and health potions he used thus far for himself that he never tasted a thing from them. Then again he never bothered to ask if they ever tasted like anything to anyone else now that he thought about it.

Regardless of the overlord's idle musings the child lost face to the declaration. "But I thought they would taste better sweet!"

"Gimme that!"

Once more and far quicker than before the teen-child snatched the remaining ball from her hand, threw it onto the ground and began to vehemently stomp on it. As he did so the girl dropped onto her knees in shock and begged him to stop only to be ignored in favor of his own fury. The prisoner continued to silently glare at him, his eyes gaining a sharper edge to them as time went on. As for the guards, only their sense of professionalism kept them from moving from their posts. Eventually though it came to an appreciated end that left the girl in tears as she muttered and hiccupped something too softly for the Sorcerer King to hear. Sadly for her the teenager was as strong as ever, never mind lacking any sense of remorse as he combed a hand through his bowl hair cut.

"Too bad. You must not have read the notice that was posted," he sneered as he drew a slip of paper from the confines of his coat before turning his attention to it. "Those who assist criminals in any way will be executed! Signed Marine Captain Morgan." At the mere mention of the captain's name the child froze up in fear, her pallor paler in the meantime. As for the guards, they looked to have bitten into something particularly sour. Even so they were ignored by the teenager who aimed a pleased giggle at her, his face crinkling in a bully's form of delight. "It see~ms even little brats fear my dad."

"_... please tell me this isn't going to go that route."_ While no saint and his humanity lacking, Ainz would at least _like_ to think himself as better than _deliberately_ targeting a child if it could be helped. There was to be boundaries _somewhere_ after all if only to keep himself in check.

While not even looking over his shoulder, the teenager raised his hand up to chuck a thumb back to the relevant officer next to it. "You. Toss this kid out, right now."

Taken by surprise, the man began to sputter some kind of objection before the blond rounded on him and grabbed him by the lapels of his shirt. "I _said_ throw her over the wall soldier! Now if you won't follow my orders then I will tell my father!" he surprisingly state rather than barked.

"Y-yes sir! I'll do it!"

... while not exactly pleased it was the lesser of two evils in Ainz' opinion.

As ordered the man power walked his way to the child who screamed her objection in fright as she made a half hearted attempt to crawl away. The soldier however merely ducked his head so his hat could obscure his eyes, mutter what could only be assumed to be an apology to a far away observer like Momonga before swiftly hefting her struggling form up and, with startling strength, toss her straight over the wall from his spot at such a height, at such an arc, that she was in danger of clearing past the crest of plateau of the hill the base was built upon.

In a momentary flare of compassion Ainz briefly pondered if he had anything to stop her descent or at least dull the eventual impact so she could ultimately walk away from the landing. It was then he briefly remembered one spell: it was more of an actual party trick than anything when compared to every other spell within YGGDRASIL, but it wasn't without some use such as giving flightless players a temporary boost to reach an airborne enemy or outright stopping such a player. With the right modifications it could even kill a player by simply dropping them from a great height. "Levitate!"

The girl's form was briefly ensconced with a teal aura and her flight came to an abrupt halt much to her confusion. She still fell toward the ground however, though nowhere near as quickly as the spell's original parameters took effect. By the time she dropped back down to the ground proper she would be roughly only a meter above it.

Satisfied with his good deed for the day Ainz turned back to the courtyard just in time to properly hear the boy cackling as he sauntered his way toward the gate he originally came from with his guards in tow.

"Only ten days left!" the prisoner shouted after him.

"That's assuming you can make those ten days!" the blond laughed as he crossed the threshold. With him and his escort now gone plus the gate sliding back into place. The man on the cross spared the Sorcerer King a hard glance before lowering his head...

Ainz simply stared at him for a moment longer before finally descending back to the ground. As he departed to complete his original task without a word. In the meantime the little girl stared at him in silent wonderment as she finally pieced together her current predicament by watching him softly land back onto his feet before walking away.

By the time she was able to touch the ground once again he had long since left her to achieve what he came for.

XVX

Grier's Public House, three hours later

There was indeed another gate. There was also indeed an emergency that short staffed the base for the time being. It was a mildly awkward affair but he finally received the currency he came for. Sadly however he had to be pointed to a library and a handful of shops throughout the island for an up to date map. Their own atlas was evidently for military eyes only. To add insult to injury as it were, for lack of a better saying, there was surprisingly a severe lack of lodgings available for him to better coordinate his efforts. Actually that wasn't entirely true; there was a severe shortage of _cheap_ lodgings so he could not only better conserve his already dented assets thus far but to better blend in like he did as Momon back in E-Rantel. As such he had to make do with what was the closest to an approximation of prime location between the library, general shops and cartographers who were in business should he find a need to return to any of them. He doubted it given his current collection but there was always a slight possibility. Thankfully the owner of the current establishment he was in didn't mind the disguised skeleton all the much, of him taking over a table and not ordering anything for himself. Then again it seemed like business was a little slow today, at least for the time being.

Regardless of his current inconveniences however a plan was indeed forming as he studied the maps and blissfully drank in the books he could thankfully read for a change. As he suspected it seemed that discoveries were made along each of the blues, though it was overall sporadic. Disappearances too, though sadly there was little if any information about why some of these islands, when compared to older maps, simply vanished off the face of the planet as far as the world was concerned. It was disconcerting to say the least.

But as noted these new islands however were discovered rather sporadically. For example in the North Blue alone it seems that for the past decade no new discoveries were made until one Behemoth's Tooth Island had been added to their charts. Before that it seems the island before that was only discovered after fifty years of the previous discovery. It was a similar case with the others Blues as well. But the Grand Line however... that one was tricky.

His collection of maps and atlases for the Blues remained roughly consistent to one another despite cross comparing them between several different cartographers. The Grand Line however severely lacked that consistency. Not to mention in comparison to other maps it seemed, to sum it up in a word, crude. It was if no one could agree what was where and where was what. Alabasta, just to pick one of the few named islands at random, not only disappeared in several versions of the Grand Line but was located in very different spots as if it was moving in the few maps that bothered to name the island! It was a chaotic mess pure and simple!

... sadly it was that chaos that he found any reason to search in the Grand Line first. From what he could tell there weren't many continents to begin with aside from this Red Line which seemingly divided the world in two. Surely in a world that emphasized in sailing from one point to another for commerce alone would've eventually discovered a significant landmass in the blues by now. While the same could be said for the Grand Line... comparing the charts for one year alone, let alone cross referencing several dated across the years, was a point in of itself.

Either way he was going to need a ship and crew. Perhaps even a few books on sailing too if he ultimately had to do it all himself. Perhaps he could utilize undead minions to that effect? Probably the more intelligent kind given that it was likely to demand complex thinking, a critical weakness for the run of the mill undead. It may make any negotiations and trading awkward at best however should the other party realize what this hypothetical crew was composed off. Perhaps he was better off with a living crew then in the long run.

Now what kind of crew did he want though?

"Stop right there!"

It was muffled but he heard it clear enough to warrant a curious look from his map covered table. He saw some marines dashed by the window, obviously giving chase to some one or some thing on the street. Seeing as he could neither see nor hear of whatever it was that they were in pursuit of he gave it no further mind before returning to his contemplation. Not long after however it was drawn away once again when the door was swiftly opened and slammed shut by none other than the little girl from earlier, gasping for air, sweating up a storm and bracing against the door.

"Rika?" the balding owner asked from his spot over by the bar of his establishment. "What's wrong child?"

The girl perked up and, while still gasping for air, staggered to him in all earnest. "Hide me! Hide me hide me hide me please!"

Befuddled with an expression to match, the man walked over to open a small door which separated the bar from the rest of the room. It was more of a decoration given its size: tall enough to readily bar the child entry but too short that even the owner could've easily stepped over it if given reason to. Regardless, Rika dove behind the bar and promtply disappeared behind it as far as Ainz's vantage point was concerned. A second later what sounded like a cabinet door was slammed shut.

Not even a moment later after the owner let go of the 'door' the door to his place of business was slammed open. From it a squad of marines had poured forth and immediately began to comb the dining room.

"_Please tell me this isn't what I think it is..."_

"Uh, hello gentlemen! Is there anything I can do for you today?" the owner inquired with his best business smile as he sought to hide obvious anxiety by rubbing his hands together as if they were cold. The newly formed sweat on his brow didn't help either as the soldiers began to check under tables, in a nearby broom closet, and a few unhurriedly marched themselves upstairs to the second floor. None of whom looked eager to do their jobs, not even the apparent commander who stood in front of the bar with two other marines flanking him.

"Good evening Karl," the soldier said with a grim frown. "I'm sorry to say this but we're... looking for a fugitive by order of _Captain Morgan_. We... 'believe' she may have come here in search for a hiding place."

The owner _**really**_ began to sweat as his already naturally pasty skin whitened further. "P-please tell me this is some kind of misunderstanding! I-I-'m sure she did nothing wrong!"

The marine didn't answer. Instead he pulled his hat down further so as to better cover his eyes as his frown sought to break from professional to severe.

"Just think of Ririka! It'll destroy her if he has his way! Hasn't he done _**enough**_ as it is?!"

The owner was still met with stony silence. As for the men within earshot it seemed the circumstances were draining them of their will to even move... a few even gave up the pretense of performing their duties to simply sit down and hang their heads in shame without reprimand from their superior.

"... I'm sorry Karl," the commander finally said without breaking his solemnly steeled image. "As far as Headquarters is concerned nothing improper is happening within the 153rd Branch here in the East Blue..."

The owner sagged in defeat as more marines gave up and took a seat in emotional defeat.

Karl looked to be at a loss for words as he continued to rub his hands for his own sake if nothing else. Eventually the marines that went upstairs finally came back down. As a group they stood at attention at the base of the stairs and saluted their commander.

"Sir! We have what appears to be a suspiciously opened window leading out to the roof! We believe she may have climbed back down to the street sir!"

"Good enough," the commander rumbled before nodding to the owner. "Karl..." From his spot Ainz noted the marine's eyes shifting over to the bar for a brief moment before nodding again. "Keep safe."

The marines, some of whom needed some prompting, filed out of the bar without causing any further scenes much to the owner's relief and delight. With no small amount of satisfaction the man shuffled to the spot where the overlord could only presume Rika was, knelt down till he nearly out of view and happily sigh "they're gone now. It's alright to come out now." When he stood up he stared and blinked at Ainz as if he had simply forgotten the mage was there in the first place. He probably did given the close brush with death for the little girl. The man blinked some more before regaining a somewhat nerve wracked smile. "I'm sorry about that. You weren't disturbed by any of that I hope?"

The undead waved his hand. "No. They simply looked but nothing more."

"Oh. Good. Good..." the man near absently said as he nervously rubbed his hands once more as his eyes glazed over.

"I am curious however..."

"Hm?" His full attention was snapped back toward the Sorcerer King.

"This Morgan, may I ask who he is?"

The man stiffened to the point of being ramrod straight before a concerned but puzzled frown adorned his lips. In the meantime the little girl from earlier edged out the other side of the bar while nervously looking in the direction of the windows.

"I take it you're not from around here?"

"No. I'm simply passing through on my way home actually."

"Ah." The entrepreneur rubbed his hands once more as he chewed his own teeth in thought. "Captain Axe-Hand Morgan is the... _Hero_ of the East Blue."

"One who doesn't seem to have a good reputation I assume."

That brought man up short. Ainz was sorely tempted to be coy about it but he could already see an opportunity ready to be pounced upon if he could play is cards right... which in hindsight he may of just jeopardized with his brash reply, but the idea of having access to better maps was just too tempting to ignore.

"N-nnnn... No," Karl sighed in defeat, his shoulders sagging. "He might've been a good man once but I never seen it myself." His head began to hang. "Ever since he caught Captain Kuro of a Thousand Plans and was assigned here he began to rule this island like his own personal kingdom with an iron fist. The only bright side to it all is that pirates are too afraid to even see the speck of or island on the horizon as I understand it."

"And this Headquarters I heard that marine mention, they do not know?"

The man pitifully shrugged. "From what I heard from the marines who come here from time to time, Morgan keeps all the snails with a connection to Marine HQ either on his person or in his room. I even heard he was paranoid enough to keep ordering and replacing snails every other week just to limit any calls _from_ HQ to the island to make sure no one is... _er_..." It looked like he was at war with himself over the two obvious choice words he wanted to use.

"Before someone heroic enough finally tattles on that bloodied jerk! Or better yet beats _him_ up for a change!" the little girl answered for him with a thrust of her arm in the air. She earned a disapproving frown on Karl's part but was otherwise unchallenged.

"And no one, even his own men, hasn't tried to stop him?"

Karl grimaced as he gripped his hands tighter together. "It wasn't like no one tried, but..."

When he didn't continue Ainz took it upon himself to state the obvious. "Captain Morgan makes examples out of them after ensuring his position is secure, doesn't he?"

The man grimaced once more but nodded. "Soldier or civilian..." He peered over to Rika who had long since quieted down, a deep frown on her face as she looked to the floor at her side. "Man, woman or _child_ if he thinks they slighted him..." He sighed once more as his hands dropped to his sides as he looked just short of dropping to his knees in defeat. "Up until now I was willing to believe he would at least spare the last one..."

"I see," Ainz hummed more to himself as he steepled his fingers in thought. "But, hypothetically speaking, if someone _were_ to "beat up" Morgan, would it be safe to assume that there would be no retaliatory action from the Marines?"

The entrepreneur frowned as he began to rub his hands rather nervously once more. The girl in the meantime looked up with unmasked hope in her eyes, doubtlessly figuring out where the overlord was getting to. "... I would think between the local marines and the uncovered corruption would be enough to turn a blind eye if HQ ever felt need to take note of such an individual..."

"And would the local marines be willing to, perhaps, enable temporary access to, say, their sea charts?"

The man paused once again as he glanced over at Ainz's map covered table, his frown deepening. "... I never was a marine so I can't say..."

The undead responded with a noncommittal hum of acknowledgement before he began to pack up his belongings.

"... you're not planning on confronting Morgan are you...?"

"I am merely packing up for the day," Ainz clarified as he tapped the stack of sheets into a neatly ordered pile before depositing them into satchel he had purchased for such an occasion in public. "And to find lodgings, at least for the night," he added as he shouldered his parcel and began head for the door. The owner sighed in quiet relief.

... then Ainz stopped at the threshold.

"Though I do suppose I should ask for directions for some adequate lodging considering I am unfamiliar with this island." He then opened the door and promptly left the establishment, leaving behind a confused child and a man who resigned himself to solemnly shaking his head.

XVX

Front Gate, Marine Base

Today was simply not a good day. It started out as one considering his order not only came in but was being set up, but then that incompetent peon scuffed his glorious personification of his might for the island and the world at large that as they were hauling it to its feet atop the tallest tower on the base; tempted as he was to cut him down on the spot, he mercifully refrained from doing so in order to allow him a more dignified death at the front of a firing squad later this evening in recognition of his years of service. Then his annoying son had to come in to order the death of that vagabond in the courtyard! Not as if he cared one way or another, but what sort of man, much less a captain of the Marines, a legendary one at that, would deliberately renege with an agreed upon challenge which that that backwater punk was admittedly admirably adhering to through sheer will alone without due cause? Thankfully a quick reminder with the, tragically, blunt side of his eponymous axe-hand and a harsh rebuke of "do it yourself you useless twit!" was enough to have his parasite of a relation to scurry on his way. Whether or not he had the balls to do it or not was a matter Morgan was utterly unconcerned with.

Then the complaint came in.

Ordinarily this wasn't really enough to draw his ire even on a bad day. As much as he hated it sometimes those wretches who seemingly did nothing _but_ complain had the right of it every blue moon. As much as he would have loved to think otherwise even Morgan was nowhere stupid enough to starve the entire base during a rare case of a food shortage due to one reason or another for example; he couldn't very well man _all_ the ships by himself if he was the only marine still left alive, never mind _one_ of even the small vessels they had in their arsenal damn it! Hell, even if he went so far as to conscript the entire island in such a crisis there was no guarantee they could even survive their first encounter with a pirate warband who wanted to take a crack at the weakened base thanks to the conscript's lack of training and experience. Regardless of such a scenario, when some idiot makes a complaint about the captain himself... well, challenges of that _nature_ couldn't go _uncontested_...

Given that he had the foresight to keep a schedule in regards to maintaining his namesake weapon, as in sharpening his axe not even an hour ago, this should be a quick affair.

"So you're the peasant that proclaims I'm abusing my power, correct?" His already narrowed eyes squinted further at the barely waist high gnat standing in front of him.

"Indeed I—"

_**THWACK!**_

Ordinarily he would've like to educate such a rebel of his mistakes despite the pointlessness that came from what would always come next. Then again it served more to both remind and warn every fool on the island of the sheer folly of defying his power. But today he just wasn't in the mood for it beyond at least confirming he was striking down the correct idiot to save both the effort and the embarrassment of having to kill off the actual offender after mistaking the first one as fool in question.

... sadly any such thoughts of that nature were quickly washed from his mind as Morgan gaped at the decidedly alive and not beheaded form of the masked man who now had a massive blade practically stuck in his neck... it didn't even so much as cut the fibers of his clothed hood from what he could tell.

"Now that was rather rude."

A gauntleted hand slowly, leisurely, meticulously rose up and grasped the captain's forearm. Immediately Morgan tried to yank it out of the offending appendage's grip only to be further unsettled by the fact that, as much as he tried with growing shock and desperation, no matter what he did he couldn't get his arm to budge. He then attempted a swift kick in the masked man's face only for the other hand to snap up and catch the attack, stopping it dead and further awkwardly pinning the marine captain in place even as he continued to struggle in hopes of freeing himself. In the meantime the masked man casually leaned out of the way in order to look at one of the senior officers that happened to have accompanied Morgan on his way here.

"Excuse me sir, but wouldn't attacking a private citizen without provocation be considered bad form for the Marines?"

The man gawked for a moment longer before he gave the struggling marine captain a good and long look.

"... yes it is sir. In fact it is a punishable offense. Given it was attempted murder I would even dare say he would be immediately imprisoned and stripped of his rank for such an offense."

"WHAT?! YOU—"

_Crick!_

"_GAH!_"

It took a moment for every marine present to realize that the indentation on Morgan's skin and boot that the masked stranger was applying pressure to the caught limbs...

"And as the offended party I would be within my right to act in my own self defense I as I deem fit against what I perceive to be an active threat, am I correct?"

The addressed marine quickly glanced to the others within his field of vision without having to bodily turn aside from craning his neck to and fro. Several sets of eyes glistened in silent agreement. In response the marine looked to the overlord as he made sure to tuck his hat so it could cover his eyes. "Surely no _decent person_ would think less of you, sir."

"Thank you. It certainly helps to have confirmation."

_**CRACK!**_

"_AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"_

**A/N: I'll be honest, this was intended for last month's post. But I ended up dragging my feet for most of it between being lazy and trying to contemplate as to how to legitimately get Zoro to join Ainz's crew without outright forcing him. That and the last week of the month I got hit by something that outright had me bedridden for a couple of days. Been kind of in and out of it for the rest of that week and even now I'm dealing with a thankfully diminishing to nothing cough. Regardless I sadly couldn't come up with a solution to fit this chapter that would be believable/in character for either of them.**

**On another note I had intended to get this chapter out on January, but I was afraid I was going to unintentionally set a tone for the new year by doing so... sue me.**

**Even so I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite the dark end to it.**

**P.S. It was pointed out that despite mentioning Cody in the prologue I basically left him out of this story. Simply put it was an off screen event much like Luffy's death. Unlike his demise however Cody's life is a bit more defined: having been terrified by Ainz's might Cody has effectively taken it upon himself to avoid Ainz wherever possible, going so far as to request sanctuary on the Luxia under the basis that he was pressganged into Alvida's service. He now serves as a probationary chore boy for the ship since getting off on Shells Town would mean sharing an island with Ainz who otherwise hasn't even taken note of the chore boy to begin with. If he were to ever become a marine as is his dream it'll be some time coming as he recollects his nerve to consider the idea. Even then it would most definitely be after his probation is over.**

**Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


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